Dinosaurs + Cookies = Happiness

I've been working on a million different things lately- Jack's baby bedding, Rory's reupholstered chair, some sweet little baptism invitations, fused plastic craziness and on and on and on. Most of those projects will eventually make their way to a blog post. For now, I have to give a huge shout out to my mom's cousin Alice, who sent us an adorable outfit for the baby and also a hugely popular gift for his big sister, too.

Dinosaur cookie cutters.

Rory and I got out a sugar cookie recipe and some food coloring (because when you're 2, everything is better with food coloring) and went to town.

How to make Dinosaur Sugar Cookies- A Two-Year Old's Perspective

1. Have your mother make a batch of sugar cookies. "Help" dump the ingredients in a bowl. Get VERY EXCITED about making several different colors of cookies. Pay no mind to the stained hands of your mother, who thought about adding color after the dough was finished.

2. Drag your chair to the counter and help push cookie cutters in the dough. Sneak bites of cookie dough. In true baker form, get flour all over your shirt.

3. Name all the dinosaurs. Sneak bites of cookie dough. Point out that your mother broke off T-Rex's midsection. Share the obviously wrecked cookie with your mother.

4. Peer into the oven and wait for the cookies to bake. Toss the dish towels aside so that you get a better view. Put dish towels on dog. Ask to have another bite of cookie dough from the bowl. Share it with the dog.

5. Eat cookies. Name each dinosaur. Dance off your sugar high in the kitchen.

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Rory and I braved the snow and got our hair cut by Michael this morning. It was like driving to Dallas in a snow globe. Big fat snowflakes have been falling all day long- it's like a real winter or something! We stopped and bought Rory some rain boots on the way home and had fun playing outside.

Today is Michael's birthday, so I made him a Warhol-esque portrait of his pets. I'm trying not to go crazy and do the same to a million other pictures. Wish me luck.

Happy Birthday, Philip!

My nephew turns 5 tomorrow! Rory and I (with a little help from Andrew, too) made wrapping paper for his gifts. We used Rory's new dinosaur stamp set (special thanks to Kiki, Wayne and Landry) to decorate a brown paper sack. I've always been a fan of alternative wrapping- what's cooler than a gift wrapped in comics? Or, you know, a stamped and colored brown paper sack?

(Not So) Great Expectations

I've known Shannon for 22 years now. That means several things, among them being that she doesn't expect her Christmas presents to come on time. Not that I don't actually try to have them finished by December 25, it just never seems to happen. Obviously, this year didn't break tradition.

This project lived inside me head for several months before actually coming to life in the real, material world. I used a picture from when the two were engaged and simplified the lines. Then simplified them more. Then started over because the resulting picture didn't even closely resemble either of them. I finally got a draft done that I was pleased with and transferred it onto fabric using the kitchen window as a lightbox. A few strands of brown embroidery floss and a red frame later and voila- the gift is finally finished!

I admit that the sketch looks a lot better (and much more like the two of them) than the embroidery, but still I think the result is kind of fun.

So here it is. In February. Happy EngagemeChristmasTine's Day, Shannon and Josh!